Monday, February 6, 2012

Do Female Commonwealth Leaders Bring Their Spouses to Important Summits?

[Large image here]

The answer seems to be no. The First Gentleman himself, Tim Mathieson, didn't travel with his spouse to a meeting in a foreign land, but was at home in his host country. He couldn't exactly leave (on a mission?) during this event. And even Prince Philip didn't make it with his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, who after all is the leader in these summits.

I counted seven women leaders in the official photograph:

- Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
- Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia. (Wikipedia states that she is divorced.)
- Paula Cox, Premier of Bermuda
- Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia
- Queen Elizabeth II
- There is one more woman I cannot place, and it could be Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica, but she assumed office in January 2012, and the recent Summit in Australia was held in October 2011.

And only one male, Tim Mathieson, was present in the "spouses" photograph:


Here's my recent post on the Obama's with the Gillards at the November 2011 APEC meeting in Hawaii.